


Consequences

by littlemisscurious



Series: Tom, Emmy, Ben, Ellie, Paula, Max and Sophie [40]
Category: Actor RPF, British Actor RPF, Tom Hiddleston - Fandom
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Family, Fluff, NSFW, Sequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-05
Updated: 2014-06-05
Packaged: 2018-02-03 12:26:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1744589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlemisscurious/pseuds/littlemisscurious
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>sequel to "Words" and "Actions"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Consequences

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Actions](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1705373) by [littlemisscurious](https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlemisscurious/pseuds/littlemisscurious). 



 

“Um, what is going on here?” A confused smile on her luscious lips, Paula looked around their bedroom and the en-suite bathroom. Candles everywhere lit up the rooms and the air smelled of lemon and lavender. Outside, snow was falling heavily from the night sky, a stark contrast to the warmth and cosiness inside.

Still a bit hesitantly despite their tender kiss earlier that day, Tom got up from their big four-poster bed and walked towards his wife. “Well, I believe you deserve some pampering,” he confessed sheepishly, fumbling with a delicate bathrobe in his hands.

“And what about our children? Who will look after them while you pamper me?” Raising an eyebrow in amusement, Paula stepped even closer to him, her fingertips sliding slowly up his forearm.

Tom cleared his throat nervously. “Um, Emma is downstairs to look after Max and Sophie and...and Emmy and Ben have been invited to stay at Benedict’s and I agreed to that,” he mumbled before wiping a strand of hair out of her face, his fingertips lingering just that little bit longer on the smooth skin of her cheek. He was still mesmerised by her, enthralled by her beauty, unable to fully comprehend, even after all this time, that she was his and his alone.

“Sounds like you thought that through,” Paula said, touched by his gesture, by his obvious desire to apologise for his ignorance and absence.

“I did because it matters. You matter, Paula!” His blue eyes were fixed on hers, hoping she would see the sincerity in them. “I’ve talked to my agent and I took all next week off. The negotiations for the project in January were pretty much finished anyway and they can do the rest without me,” Tom continued quietly.

 

Slowly, her fingertips glided further along his forearms, up to his shoulders and over to the buttons of his shirt. “Thank you, Tom,” she smiled, opening button by button of his pale blue shirt.

He bit his lip while she undressed him slowly, her eyes never leaving his. “This was about me pampering you not the other way around,” Tom whispered with a smile but she only shook her head.

“The one doesn’t necessarily exclude the other, my darling husband.”

***

“I was thinking about going away for Christmas, just the six of us. Maybe we could rent a cottage in Scotland or someplace else. Whatever you prefer.” Gently, Tom’s fingertips traced the moles on her skin, connecting them dot by dot the further they wandered down her arms, her chest, her stomach until he dipped them between her legs. Her head fell back onto his shoulder and, her blue eyes closed, Paula listened to his soft and soothing voice while he caressed every inch of her body.

“Would you like that?,” he breathed into her ear, sucking on her earlobe while his fingers never stopped exploring. The warm water had embraced their bodies entirely and the white foam tickled his skin. Without taking his eyes off her, Tom palmed her breast with his other hand as he pushed his index finger inside of her, relishing the warmth it was welcomed with.

She bit her lip to suppress a moan and her fingers gripped the edge of the bathtub while he slowly, teasingly, added another finger down below, no longer expecting an answer to his question.

Paula couldn’t remember the last time they’d had sex, she now realised. She craved his touch, his kisses, his every being, although for now she wouldn’t interfere but let him continue with his sweet and sinful ministrations. It would be her turn soon enough.

***

With one swift move, he picked her up and carried her through to their bedroom, their skin still wet and warm from their relaxing - and rather stimulating - bath. Paula giggled quietly as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “I kind of get the feeling that the night in the guest bedroom definitely did you some good,” she teased him, receiving a low growl from Tom in return.

“I don’t want a repetition of it anytime soon, though,” he confessed, placing her carefully on the soft mattress. His eyes drank her in, her naked form glittering in the golden glow of the candles. He loved every curve, every mole, every scar. Tom simply couldn’t get enough of her. How could he have been so blind these past few weeks?

Hungrily, he pressed his lips against her own, pushing her back onto the bed while he followed, hovering over her. His hand gripped her hips and with his knee he parted her legs until he was able to fit comfortably between them. His length, hard and throbbing, rested between them as they kissed.

Tom still managed to steal the air from her lungs and the floor from under her feet. Desperately, Paula buried her fingers in the dips below his shoulder blades, his skin still slippery underneath her touch.

***

The night was long and sleepless and Paula sincerely hoped her sister-in-law had a slumber deep enough to hear the twins but not them. She was exhausted by the time the first cars could be heard outside on the road again and spent and sated she fell onto the mattress next to her husband.

Lovingly, Tom pulled her into an embrace before he covered them both with their thick duvet. Paula’s head rested on his shoulder while her fingertips traced patterns on his naked chest. Silence started to creep into the room.

“I think we should really go away for Christmas,” she mumbled after a while, turning her head ever so slightly to look up to him. Tom chuckled.

“I can’t believe you still remember that question after all I did to distract you in between,” he answered with a smirk and Paula blushed.

“It simply popped back into my head just now,” she confessed, breathing a kiss onto his collarbone.

“Then let’s rent a cottage somewhere remote. We could go as soon as Ben and Emmy finish school and then we can stay there until after New Year’s. Shooting doesn’t start until the 6th of January. And until then it’d just be you and me and the children.”

She nodded against his shoulder until she finally asked almost too quiet for him to hear, “Why did you run away from us these past weeks, Tom?”

 

He swallowed. He had feared this question because he wasn’t sure he knew the answer himself. But she deserved an explanation or at least an attempt at one. Carefully, he shuffled a bit further down to meet her eye to eye and taking her hand into his, he started speaking.

 

“I think it was because I suddenly felt old...too old. I felt like I couldn’t keep up anymore. With Ben and Emmy’s school stuff and their exams and clubs and...and with Max and Sophie. I felt like you deserve someone better, someone more capable, someone younger by your side. So I did the only thing I knew I was good at, working.” She tried to interrupt but he pressed a fingertip gently to her lips. “Please let me finish, love,” Tom begged and Paula nodded in the semi-darkness of their bedroom.

“I thought that when I’m out I couldn’t be in your way and instead of you needing to explain everything to me once I was home, I thought it better to leave it all to you. It was stupid and selfish and the dumbest thing I could have done. Of course you needed my support and my help, I know that now. You are so strong, Paula, and so wonderful. I sometimes feel not good enough for you. So I ran away. To avoid being told that you no longer want me here,” he finished with a sad smile.

 

A few tears glistened in her eyes and Paula sniffled once ere she could reply. “You are such an intelligent man, Thomas, but sometimes you are just plain dumb. How could you ever think I don’t want you by my side any longer? I love you. I love you so much it hurts sometimes. I love our children, Ben and Emmy and Max and Sophie. Every time I look at their gorgeous faces in the morning or their sleepy eyes at night I remember how lucky I am to have them and you.”

She gulped back a sob and her hand rested lovingly on his cheek ere she continued. “I know that you have to work and that you’re not always able to be here with us. I understand that, Tom, because I knew what I’d get right from the beginning. But whenever you can, I want you by our side. I want to share every moment with you and the children want the same. They adore you. You’re their hero, whether it’s Benjamin and Emiliana or Sophie and Maximilian. Their Daddy can do everything and fix anything and dry every tear….I thought you knew that.”

Tears were now running down her face and his own shimmered on his cheeks in the pale light of the streetlamps falling in through a crack in the curtains.

“I’m sorry for having caused you pain, my darling. It won’t happen again, I promise. I love you,” Tom whispered, his lips mere millimetres from hers.

“I love you, too,” Paula smiled despite her tears, pressing herself against him when their lips finally met.


End file.
